title: Curcumin induces apoptosis of HepG2 cells via inhibiting fatty acid synthase.
abstract: Fatty acid synthase (FAS) is highly expressed in many kinds of human cancers, including liver cancer. Curcumin is the major active ingredient of Curcuma longa and has long been used to treat a variety of maladies. In the present study, we investigated the potential use of curcumin as a kind of FAS inhibitor for chemoprevention of liver cancer. Curcumin induced HepG2 cell apoptosis with the IC50 value of 8.84 μg/ml. It inhibited intracellular FAS activity, and downregulated expression and mRNA level of FAS in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, sodium palmitate could rescue cell apoptosis induced by curcumin. Further studies reviewed that siRNA of FAS showed similar results as curcumin. These findings suggested that curcumin might be useful for preventing or treating liver cancer.
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China.
authors.forename: Huijin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Weixi
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.forename: Xiaofeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ma
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D003474:Curcumin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D064429:Fatty Acid Synthases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D056945:Hep G2 Cells; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014162:Transfection
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D064429:Fatty Acid Synthases; D003474:Curcumin